Back in the day the Debate Club at my high school was not a particularly popular club to belong to. The Letterman’s Club, Art Club, and French or Spanish Clubs were the extra-curricular activities of choice for most students. Those of us who struggled academically joined the ‘Metal-Shop Club’.
The debaters were primarily the scholarly types who kept to themselves and weren’t involved in a lot of other activities. The rest of us didn’t need to belong to the Debate Club, we just argued among ourselves about sports and girls. Our version of debating.
And while our arguments might not have been as polished as the practiced debaters on the Debate Club, we usually made our points. Though certainly not on the debating stage, but more often than not behind the gymnasium out of view of teachers, and sometimes with the aid of a knuckle sandwich or two for ‘punctuation’.
In just two nights seventeen Republicans running for the party’s nomination for president in 2016 and the right to go up against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, will square off in two separate debates in Cleveland. With so many candidates running it’s not possible to have them all participate in one single debate, since just the opening statements for each candidate would take the debate well into next week.
Fox News, the host of the debates elected to separate the top ten candidates from the also-rans who didn’t poll well enough to make it onto the main stage. To quote the president when discussing the terrorist threat facing the United States from the Islamic State, apparently the earlier debate will consist of the “JV Team”.
And unfortunately considering the attention span of the American viewing public, the earlier debate will probably not generate as much public interest as the main event later that evening starring ‘The Donald’, and a bunch of other guys.
But in reality the ‘JV Debate’ with Carly Fiorina and Rick Perry, and a bunch of other guys, may well provide viewers with the best opportunity to see some well-qualified and legitimate contenders with real accomplishments, compared to the circus side-show viewers will be treated to later that night.
Both Fiorina and Perry have some pretty impressive records to run on. Both have served as accomplished managers with real world experience so important in this election. The country has survived – so far, but it ain’t over yet – for over six years now with an administration stumbling through history.
The amateurs have had their chance and have failed miserably. The country, no in fact the entire world is waiting with baited breath for the current resident of the White House to vacate the residence. And hopefully for the American people to wake up and usher in a new administration that has a clue about what the world needs at this dangerous time.
Viewers of Thursday evening’s debates would do well to pay close attention to the earlier ‘JV event’. When both are over I think you may see a couple of the ‘JV Team’ debaters quickly promoted to the varsity squad.